Unusual TTCB Behavior (playback issues) on Mac

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I've just started playing around with the TiVO network features on my series 2 DT and have gotten most of it working smoothly. However, I am having a strange issue with playback of converted avi files on the TiVO using Tivo Desktop Mac to transfer back.

I am able to successfully convert the files using ffmpegx to mpeg2 (with a mp2 audio stream) at 544x480 and 4:3 aspect ratio. Some of these files are in 4:3 original aspect ratio, and some are in 16:9 aspect ratio, so I use the letterbox fields to add black lines to the top and bottom of these latter files. Encoding is 1024 to 1500Kb/s. The files convert successfully and appear to play normally on VLC, and the 4:3 files play fine on the TiVO (with some small clipping on the right and left edges, nothing to worry about). However, the files that were originally in 16:9 play very oddly, with heavy vertical lines in the image, graininess and a zoom in to the upper right corner of the image, as if its playing a much smaller resolution file.

To test things, I created a TiVO compatible mpeg file from a 16:9 movie using VisualHub demo and it transferred and played fine. Now I have no problems buying VisualHub and using that for conversions - it's a great program - but I do want to know what I did wrong, because MediaInfoMac shows exactly identical settings for my files and VisualHub's files save for file size. Did I calculate the letterbox pixel sizes wrong, and would it cause this kind of error? (I calculate 87 now, but may have used 78 when encoding; I can't figure out how to check. What is the right size?) I can't see how, since the file ends up being 544x even if it stretches some due to miscalculation? Did I set something wrong in regards to aspect ratio? I can only seem to set resolution, and 544x480 does not equal 4x3.

For reference, I have a 649 series 2 DT TiVO with a TIVO brand wireless adapter and a Powerbook G4 running OX 10.4.11.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks for the quick replies!

I had considered pyTiVO when I started networking, but the installation process for Mac seemed so daunting. The streamlined instructions sound great, and I’ll give them a shot and hope they work on a G4 Powerbook. I’ll report in once I’ve tried, but it’ll be a few days until I get around to it. Still, it would be nice to know what I did wrong in the original conversion process, if only for my own edification.

 

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Ok, I've tried for a while to get this working, but no go. pyTivo installs and sets up correctly - I can see my files - but I can transfer them. I always get a "transferring is prohibited copyright" error, which I take it means ffmpeg isn't resolving the video file.

So I tested the precompiled version you linked to and it gave me the following error:
g4:~ comp$ /Applications/pyTivo/ffmpeg -formats
Illegal instruction
g4:~ comp$

Assuming that means it isn't working at all on my machine (is it because I have a Powerbook G4?), I extracted the working ffmpeg from the latest ffmpegx install. It works and says:
g4:~ comp$ /usr/local/bin/ffmpeg -formats
FFmpeg version CVS, Copyright (c) 2000-2004 Fabrice Bellard
Mac OSX universal build for ffmpegX
configuration: --enable-mp3lame --enable-gpl --disable-vhook --disable-ffplay --disable-ffserver --enable-a52 --enable-xvid --enable-faac --enable-faad --enable-amr_nb --enable-pthreads --enable-x264
libavutil version: 49.0.0
libavcodec version: 51.9.0
libavformat version: 50.4.0
built on Apr 15 2006 08:41:02, gcc: 3.3 20030304 (Apple Computer, Inc. build 1666)
[list of formats snipped]

But I still get the transferring prohibited error with every video file I've tried, e.g. this won't play:
g4:~ comp$ /usr/local/bin/ffmpeg -i /Users/comp/TiVO/Bleach80.avi
FFmpeg version CVS, Copyright (c) 2000-2004 Fabrice Bellard
Mac OSX universal build for ffmpegX
configuration: --enable-mp3lame --enable-gpl --disable-vhook --disable-ffplay --disable-ffserver --enable-a52 --enable-xvid --enable-faac --enable-faad --enable-amr_nb --enable-pthreads --enable-x264
libavutil version: 49.0.0
libavcodec version: 51.9.0
libavformat version: 50.4.0
built on Apr 15 2006 08:41:02, gcc: 3.3 20030304 (Apple Computer, Inc. build 1666)

Seems that stream 0 comes from film source: 30000.00 (30000/1) -> 23.98 (24000/1001)
Input #0, avi, from '/Users/comp/TiVO/movie80.avi':
Duration: 00:22:54.4, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 1049 kb/s
Stream #0.0, 23.98 fps(r): Video: mpeg4, yuv420p, 640x480
Stream #0.1: Audio: mp3, 44100 Hz, stereo, 96 kb/s
Must supply at least one output file
g4:~ comp$

My config file is:
[Server]
port=9032
ffmpeg=/usr/local/bin/ffmpeg

[My Movies]
type=video
path=/Users/comp/TiVO/

I'm at a loss here; it *should* be working, right? What else can I try?

 

Ok, when I debugged, I got a decode/encode error, suggesting that no, ffmpegx's file wouldn't work. So I just bit the bullet and compiled my own version of ffmpeg and lame by installing XCode and Macports. It took forever and I had some missteps along the way, but by then it was a matter of pride. Besides, Macports is a nice thing to have access to, just in case. And it worked - I transferred over my files and they play! Thanks for all your help!